Zac Dalpe (22) of the Carolina Hurricanes was third star in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 29, 2011.

Photograph by: Gregg Forwerck
, NHLI via Getty Images

Dalpe received a call at 12:30 a.m. that he had been traded from the Carolina Hurricanes while Welsh, fast asleep in his Raleigh hotel room, heard someone pounding on his door around 2 a.m.

“It was one of the guys and I thought he was in trouble initially,” Welsh recalled Monday before being re-assigned to the AHL's Utica Comets. “So I kind of rushed to the door because he said 'please, answer if you're awake!' But I didn't think it was a prank. I kind of had an intuition that something was in the works just kind of the way things had been going in Carolina. So it was obviously surprising. It was probably 10 seconds of shock and then I started thinking I was coming to Vancouver to be a part of this organization and it was thrilling.”

Dalpe was thrilled for another reason. Despite growing up in Paris, Ont. – a hotbed of Leaf Nation – he was a Canuck fan as a kid and enjoyed following the exploits of Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden and the rest of the boys from that era. Dalpe and Welsh were acquired for minor-leaguer Kellan Tochkin and a fourth-round pick in 2014.

“I remember my initial thought I got traded to the team that was my favourite team growing up,” Dalpe said Monday. “So that was pretty cool. There were a lot of emotions running through me because I had never actually been traded before. To sum it all up, I'm really, really excited to be a part of this organization.”

Dalpe, a second-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2008, isn't a first-time visitor to B.C. He played a season with the Penticton Vees in 2007-08 before heading to the NCAA and Ohio State. His younger brother Ben is on the 2013-14 Vees.

“It was kind of weird how I ended up in Penticton,” said Dalpe, who turns 24 on Nov. 1. “I was doing a year of junior B back home and I got a scholarship to Ohio State. Penticton was one of the teams they suggested I go to before I started with them. So I came out to Penticton for a visit with my parents and it was a kind of no-brainer. I loved my year in B.C. I was kind of homesick at the start but then, when the season ended, I didn't want to go home. I fell in love with it quickly.”

Dalpe plays both centre and right wing and he may find himself auditioning for a third-line spot in the absence of the suspended Zack Kassian. He had yet to meet with the coaching staff when he spoke Monday to The Sun so was uncertain what the plans were for him.

He is on a two-way contract but requires waivers to go to the minors. His NHL resume consists of 41 games spread over three seasons. He's scored five goals and added five assists.

“I came into pro hockey as a centreman but I've been converted to the wing so I guess I'm equally comfortable at both spots,” he said. “I haven't played centre in a little bit but I'm sure that is something I can pick up hopefully.”

Welsh, meanwhile, also plays both centre and the wing. He didn't require waivers to be sent to the Comets and was the final move the Canucks made Monday to comply with the 23-man roster limit. He appeared in six NHL games for the 'Canes and had one assist.

“I played left wing my freshman year at Union College and I played left wing probably five of the six games I've played up in the NHL,” said Welsh, 25, before he was sent to Utica.

Welsh grew up on a farm in Bayfield, Ont., a town near Lake Huron in the southwestern part of the province. He's the youngest of three kids and they all spent plenty of time at the local arena.

“My brother played hockey and my sister was a figure skater,” he said. “Where I grew up, there was no football, no lacrosse, so everyone was into hockey mostly. I did other sports in high school like volleyball and soccer but nothing too serious. Hockey was pretty much my main sport.”

Like Dalpe, Welsh defied the odds and didn't get swept up by Leaf Nation.

“I definitely wasn't a Leafs fan,” he said, chuckling. “I didn't really have a team growing up. I liked Joe Sakic and I'm a big fan of Pavel Datsyuk.”

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